1,006 Tourism Businesses in Bali Has Been Certified for Tourism Recovery

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia is preparing for the implementation of a recovery plan in the tourism industry, and Bali will be the first destination assigned as the locomotive region for the whole country. The preparation has been done in an extremely careful manner in order to make sure that the prospective tourists will experience the most convenient visit by the time they return to Bali.

One of the most important highlights of the preparation is the strict implementation of health protocol in Bali. On 18 January 2021, there are approximately 994 tourism stakeholders in Bali (516 hotels and 478 non-hotels including restaurants, homestay villas, nature tourism, shopping centers, transportation services, and diving tours) that have been granted InDOnesia CARE certification by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. This means that they have met the required standard for health protocol implementation.

While visiting the Sanur Beach area in Denpasar on Saturday, 10 April 2021, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno stated that the COVID-19 prevention health protocol will be strictly implemented in the Bali region. "We have to extensively monitor people's compliance with health protocols." said Sandiaga Uno.

He said that the ministry will also intensify socialization and education to all people, especially those in the green zone, to continue to comply with health protocols in order to continue to suppress the Covid-19 infection rate. "There will be sanctions for those who commit violations. Regarding international travelers, we won't hesitate to deport them if they refuse to comply with health protocols," he said.
 

AIRPORTS

Since August 2020, 15 airports in Indonesia have been granted Safe Travel Stamp by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). This stamp is obtained after Angkasa Pura I, the state-owned company managing the airports in Indonesia, sends the airport health protocol to the agency for complete assessment. According to the Director of Angkasa Pura I Fahmi Faik, the Safe Travels Stamp is meant to show the public and tourism stakeholders that Angkasa Pura I has consistently implemented health protocols related to preventing the spread of COVID-19, which in this case refers to Safe Travels WTTC dan ICAO Takeoff Guideline for Aviation protocol.

The protocols that are implemented in the airports include the application of social/physical distancing, checking body temperature, to checking health documents. The cleanliness in the airport area has also been ensured intensely by periodically using disinfectants in public areas and facilities such as check-in counters, trollies, self-check-in machines, SCP (tray & x-ray), toilets, boarding pass scanners, handrails, armchairs, and others.

All the operational staff on duty in those airports are also equipped with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) starting from safety goggles, masks, and gloves. The airport also provides hand sanitizers in terminal areas. In addition to the implementation of physical distancing, the airports have arranged a minimum queue distance of 1,5 meters in the areas such as: Check In, Security Checkpoint, Immigration, Boarding Lounge, Garbarata (jet bridges), Baggage Claim areas and public transportation waiting areas.
 

HOTELS

The government also makes sure that in the future, when leaving the airport to the hotel, the visitors will receive an extensive amount of protection due to the strict implementation of health protocol by the hotel management. On the entrance, visitors will be provided with a hand sanitizing facility, baggages and belongings disinfectant, and exclusive driver’s waiting room.

Visitors will also be subjected to the obligatory face mask wearing in the entire hotel areas, body temperature checking, and a social distancing rule of 1-meter distance per person in the entrance queue and in front of the concierge/receptionist desk. Furthermore, the hotel employees will also be imposed to wear face masks, implement social distancing, and collect data on visitor’s travel history and health conditions for 14 days using the Covid-19 risk self-assessment form (form 1) upon check-in.
 

RESTAURANTS

Health protocol is also being strictly enforced in the restaurants in order to provide extensive security to all visitors. On the entrance, aside from being provided with hand-sanitizing facilities, visitors will be subjected to a social distancing rule of 1-meter distance per person on the cashier queue, no-handshake rule, obligatory face mask-wearing, and inter-customer partition on the dining table.

The restaurants are required to serve food in family-style or a la carte. Restaurants that are serving buffet will need to apply rules such as:

• Assigning restaurant officers in the buffet stalls and equipping them with face masks and gloves

• Visitors taking food must be accompanied by the officers and comply with the social distancing rule of 1-meter distance per person on the stall queue

• All dining utensils must be cleaned and disinfected safely and appropriately before reuse

• Replace, wash, and sanitize equipment as often as possible

• Employees that are in-charge must wash hands with soap and running water frequently

• Employees that are in-charge must change gloves frequently, especially after touching objects other than eating/drinking utensils
   

TOURISM ATTRACTIONS

Not only in hotels and restaurants, but tourism attractions are also being prepared as one of the key players in the tourism recovery plan through the implementation of health protocol. All personnels, visitors, and other parties present in tourism attractions are required to wear a face mask and are subjected to body temperature checking in the entrance and social distancing rule of 1-meter distance per person in every area, including the front desk queue. Hand sanitizing facilities will also be provided in the entrance and within the tourism attractions.

In order to prevent more unwanted risk, the government also encouraged tourism attractions to provide online ticket purchase and reservation and also non-cash payment service. Furthermore, the tourism attractions also establish visiting regulations such as setting the length of visiting time and the number of people allowed according to the capacity and characteristics of the tourist attraction. This applies especially in areas that are favorable for visitors and other places that have the potential to generate crowds.

The important thing to this tourism recovery preparation is to make sure that the convenience and wellbeing of the international travelers visiting Bali will always be at number one priority. All the strict measurements that are implemented are solid proof that InDOnesia CARE for the comfortable return of its visitors to Bali.